I have talked to many people who have seen
Billy on television and heard him speak but who have never had the privilege
of meeting him. They tell me they would love to experience the joy of knowing
him and catching his warm personality. They would give much to see his smile,
hear his laugh, and feel the strong grip of his hand. Year after year Billy
Graham is ranked as one of the world's most respected persons, an honor not
often accorded to a clergyman. They would like to know for themselves why
he commands such respect.

What a beautiful prospect, then, for me to be given
the opportunity to write this book about a man who for over half a century
has been bringing peace, hope, and joy into the lives of millions of people
on six continents and the islands of the sea. It is indeed a pleasure to
write about him, though I am deeply conscious of my own inadequacy. But by
the grace of God, Billy Graham and I are friends. And so I invite you to
meet my friend.

Just about everybody who meets Billy Graham personally
becomes aware that there is something very different about him. He is a born
leader. It was recognized early by his fellow students when he first enrolled
at Wheaton College back in 1941. The difference is

Page 20

not just his appearance nor his voice nor any one particular thing;
rather it is the total effect of the man.

What then are the components of this impression?
To begin with Billy is a refined southern gentleman, a compliment to his
upbringing and an adornment to his heritage. But before that, he is a Christian
and an evangelist. He's not exactly like some evangelists you've known. How
can I say it? He is spiritually unique.

For example, he is deadly serious about the devil
and the wickedness he continues to cause the world. Billy is also acutely
aware of the burden of suffering that daily afflicts such a large portion
of the human race. He has a tender touch. In recent years he and his wife,
Ruth, have personally endured their share of affliction. As a global traveler
over several decades, he is also keenly sensitive to the tragic injustices
existing in the social environment of different nations, including his
own.

But all attempts to explain Billy Graham fail unless
they begin at the cross. The apostle Paul said, "Christ sent me not to baptize,
but to preach the gospel."1 And what is the gospel?
It is that Christ died on Calvary's cross to save sinners like you and me.
It is that He made atonement for sin with His blood, thus redeeming us from
hell and judgment, and then gave us the promise of new life in the Holy Spirit
by rising from the dead. This is in essence the Christian message, based
on the Bible, and it is what Billy preaches all over the world. The message
explains the messenger.

But Billy is also a lighthearted individual. Not
many realize that. He feels the joy of being alive in God's creation. He
is thrilled by the prospects of future bliss in heaven, and he has made a
lifetime career of loving God and loving people. That's the note the media
fail to catch. They see the hype and the crowds, but they miss the love of
the Spirit and the joy of the Lord. They think Billy's story belongs in the
"religious" category, along with promotion and hocus-pocus and bill-boards
and sandwich-board prophets and, of course, the money pitch. So they sit
down to knock out his story, and it often proves to be a subtle justification
for their own sins and a putdown for Billy. It's the blind writers leading
the blind readers, and they all end up in the
ditch.2

But the crowds who show up at at the stadium without
a press

Page 21

pass  they get the message from Billy that Christianity is
not a religion at all, but a transforming relationship with Jesus Christ.
To know Him and be known by Him  that is the way to truth and
salvation.

God has given Billy unusual insight into what people
are really like. He doesn't believe we are naturally good folks with just
some bad tendencies. He believes we are naturally bad, unmistakably
bad,3 thanks to the devil's enticements, but
with a great potential in Christ for goodness and mercy. That's what the
Bible teaches, and Billy accepts it as God's Word.

The result is that when he preaches, even though
he doesn't indulge in eloquent rhetoric, his message from God's Word seems
to get inside the listeners. It's as if he is a soul doctor who knows what's
going on in our innermost being. Other pulpiteers can and do expound on the
exceeding sinfulness of sin; Billy gets downright personal about it. He doesn't
condemn us. He just bores in and lets us condemn ourselves.

Without running out a string of clichés, Billy
talks about the love of God in Jesus Christ. He stabs the air with his finger
and tells the people, "God is saying, 'I love you. I love you. I love you.'
" Sitting in the stands, we think, Man, maybe there's something to this
business. The guy rings a bell. Maybe God can tell me what I ought to do
about my predicament. My life's a mess. I've got to do something fast. Guess
I'll join the others and go down front and check out the Jesus
bit.

Ah, those beautiful crowds that stream forward from
all over the stadium at Billy's invitation  what a marvelous sight!
There's nothing to match them anywhere on the planet. And it's still going
on, decade after decade. Other sincere evangelists reach hundreds; Billy
reaches thousands and even millions! A Christian woman member of India's
Parliament, Princess Rajkumai Amrid Kaur, said it well back in 1956: "Billy
Graham is one of those rare jewels who tread this earth periodically and,
by their lives and teaching, draw millions of others closer to
God."

Take this harried housewife living in Glasgow, Scotland,
who came forward in Kelvin Hall at Billy's invitation to give her heart
to

Page 22

Jesus Christ. Later, when talking to a counselor, she burst into
tears. Her husband was a "sore trial" to her, she said, and began going into
the details. While she was talking, she heard a voice behind her saying,
"Don't worry any more, my dear. I'm here too." Her husband had just accepted
Christ and joined her.4 Her prayer was answered
before she even uttered it. That kind of thing is not unusual.

A newspaper received this letter from a subscriber:

I write on behalf of my husband and myself. Prior to
accepting Billy Graham's call I frankly admit
that for many years the word happiness was never to be found in our home,
owing to continual quarrelling between my husband and myself due to excessive
drinking. Now our lives are changed in many ways. To attend church was
unheard of in our home for years. Now we attend regularly. Happiness prevails
in our home. My husband and I thank God for the wonderful change that has
taken place in our
lives.5

What about Dr. Graham's own morals? We all know the
temptations to which those who minister in the name of Christ are exposed.
I can begin to answer that by quoting what Billy once said to me: "I am dead
to every woman but Ruth!" And what about his participation in popular American
social activities? Is he a recluse? No, but here's something else he told
me: "I like occasionally to wear a colorful sports jacket, and that's about
as wild as I ever get."

Several books have been written over the years
criticizing Billy Graham. You ought to read them! You may have trouble locating
one, for they are "remaindered" soon after they're published. Actually their
contents border on the hilarious because something is missing, and that something
is God Himself. Trying to write a book about Billy Graham apart from God
is harder than finding the silver dollar that George Washington threw across
the Rappahannock River. I don't doubt the author's sincerity, but I say about
their writing what Billy says about a certain California Golden Bear football
player. This young man, who was captain-elect, recovered a fumble in the
Rose Bowl back in 1929 and ran with the ball the wrong way. He was sincere,
but he was sincerely wrong.

Page 23

This book will take up the question of greatness
in relation to Billy Graham. It's not easy, for he insists on giving God
a hundred percent of the credit for his success. But in more earthly terms,
it's not often that a touch of glory comes our way. It is rarer than Halley's
comet; and when it does come, people usually don't recognize it until the
person is dead. Then the attacks subside, and the true quality begins to
surface. So it will be with Billy for many people.

In the authorized King James Bible appear the words:
"Seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them
not."6

Billy knows that verse in Jeremiah. Yet the Bible
also recognizes that some people are specially anointed of God as His prophets
and spokespersons." Touch not mine anointed," warns the
Scripture.7 And it was Gamaliel, the wise
first-century Jewish rabbi, who suggested that the early Christians ought
to be left undisturbed, lest their opponents should find themselves fighting
against God.8 He recognized the possibility of
glory.

In May 1996, Billy and his wife, Ruth, were awarded
a Congressional gold medal by the United States Congress in an unforgettable
ceremony in the rotunda of the nation's capitol. It was providential they
were there to receive it; so often such recognition of greatness is delayed
until it becomes posthumous. More will be said later about that award, as
it is another reason for this book.

We who are Billy's friends, who have worked and traveled
with him, are keenly aware that there is something special about him, but
we also know how human he is. And so were John Chrysostom, Francis of Assisi,
Martin Luther, George Whitefield, Abraham Lincoln, Amy Carmichael, and other
persons highly regarded by Christians. They were all human, and at the same
time they had greatness. The secret is to distinguish the one quality from
the other. It's unwise when we ascribe perfection to human beings, all of
us being less than perfect. It's unwise to forget that the Spirit of God
blows wherever He pleases,9 and the grace of
God works in the axles of the universe without any accountability to us mortals.
Only God is perfect.

Billy likes to tell a story about the preacher who
said in his sermon one Sunday, "Apart from Christ, there never was a perfect
man."

Page 24

A rustic gentleman in the congregation rose to his feet
and interrupted him. "Oh, yes, there was," he drawled.

The preacher raised his eyebrows." And who might
that be, sir?" "My wife's first husband" was the reply.

To sum up, the special situation of William Franklin
Graham II in relation to the famous Christians of history whom we honor is
this: At the present writing Billy is here with us now and very much alive.
The others have flown away. The question then remains: Is there, indeed,
true greatness in our midst? Let the reader decide.